The sold out stands in the Reggie Lewis Center will shake on January 26 once again, as the fine fields of the 24th NB Indoor GP will race around the 200m Mondo oval from 4 pm to 7 pm. For twenty four years now, the fields of the NB Indoor GP have entertained the track fans who cheer on the fine athletes that have battled on this track.
The release below tells us more about the exciting fields on January 26, 2019 at the 24th New Balance Indoor Grand Prix.
Brazier, Berian, photo by PhotoRun.net
BOSTON, Mass. (Jan. 16, 2018) – Americans Donavan Brazier, Clayton Murphy, and Boris Berian, along with Spain’s 2018 IAAF World Indoor medalist Saúl Ordóñez will headline a men’s 800m which promises to be one of several of exciting matchups in the middle-distances the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix, organizers announced today.
Tickets for the event on January 26, which forms part of the IAAF World Indoor Tour, are now on sale at www.nbindoorgrandprix.com or by calling 1-877-849-8722.
The American U20 record holder and 2018 US Indoor Champion, Donavan Brazier returns to the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix as the defending champion in the men’s 800m. At last year’s edition, Brazier broke the tape in 1:45.11, a mere 0.11sec off of Johnny Gray’s American indoor record, set back in 1992.
“I’m excited to come back to Boston,” says Brazier. “I had a great race there last year, so it seems like the perfect place for my first 800m of the year.”
Facing Brazier head-to-head for the second time in their careers will be 2016 Olympic bronze medalist Clayton Murphy. Murphy is coming off an excellent 2018 season that saw him win his first US outdoor title at 800m and capture the silver medal at the IAAF Continental Cup.
Completing the trio of American half-miler stars in the field is Boris Berian. Berian shot onto the international scene in 2015 when he recorded the fourth-fastest time in the world that year for 800m. In 2016, Berian became the first American man since David Krummenacker to win gold over 800m at the IAAF World Indoor Championships.
Challenging all three Americans in the 800m will be Spain’s Saúl Ordóñez. Last year, Ordóñez won a bronze medal over 800m at the IAAF World Indoor Championships in Birmingham, England and later that summer recorded a new outdoor Spanish record of 1:43.65.
The men’s 800m will be one of several anticipated clashes at this year’s New Balance Indoor Grand Prix. The men’s mile will see a contest between two-time Olympic 1500m medalist and event record-holder, Nick Willis; 2016 and 2018 IAAF World Indoor Champion at 3000m, Yomif Kejelcha; Kenya’s 2018 IAAF World Indoor Championships bronze medalist at 1500m, Bethwel Birgen; and Canada’s two-time NCAA Champion, Justyn Knight.
In the men’s 3000m, fans will see a rematch between three of last year’s top four finishers: defending champion and history’s second-fastest indoor miler, Edward Cheserek; event record-holder and 2016 Olympic 5000m bronze medalist Hagos Gebrhiwet; and Spain’s reigning European Indoor Champion at 3000m, Adel Mechaal.
Two accomplished 800m specialists, five-time NCAA Champion Raevyn Rogers and 2012 European Champion Lynsey Sharp, will step down in distance to race the women’s 600m. Stepping up in distance to challenge Rogers and Sharp will be 2012 Olympic 400m hurdles finalist Georganne Moline. In the women’s 5000m, the previously announced Jenny Simpson will face Germany’s Konstanze Klosterhalfen, Europe’s fastest woman over 1500m during last year’s indoor season.
The 2019 New Balance Indoor Grand Prix kicks off at 3:45 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 26 at the Reggie Lewis Track and Athletic Center at Roxbury Community College and is the only U.S. stop on the IAAF World Indoor Tour. The series of six international events with stops in Karlsruhe (Germany), Torun (Poland), Madrid (Spain), Birmingham (Great Britain) and Dusseldorf (Germany) awards overall tour winners $20,000 and a guaranteed spot at the next edition of the IAAF World Indoor Championships in Nanjing, China, 2020.
Now in its 24th year, the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix has played host to nine world records and 13 American records .
About New Balance
New Balance, headquartered in Boston, MA has the following mission: Demonstrating responsible leadership, we build global brands that athletes are proud to wear, associates are proud to create and communities are proud to host. Manufactured in the U.S. for over 75 years and representing a limited portion of our U.S. sales, New Balance Made U.S. is a premium collection that contains a domestic value of 70% or greater. New Balance owns five factories in New England and one in Flimby, U.K. New Balance employs more than 6,000 associates around the globe, and in 2017 reported worldwide sales of $4 billion. To learn more about New Balance, please visit www.newbalance.com and for the latest press information please visit http://newbalance.newsmarket.com.
